A 110,000-Square-Foot Hole in Patchogue

By FAIZA AKHTAR

Published: September 14, 2003

PATCHOGUE—
SWEZEY'S department store, the Island's largest home-grown retailer, has been a pillar of the economy in most of its five locations. But no place stands to lose more from the stores' closing in November than Patchogue, the chain's headquarters.

The shutdown of the 110-year-old Swezey's, announced Sept. 4, will not only cost Patchogue 250 jobs, it will also deprive the village of a major attraction for shoppers in its downtown area. The store occupies 110,000 square feet, and Patchogue already has a vacant 40,000-square-foot store at the intersection of Main Street and North Ocean Avenue, the heart of the village. That building had been a Swezey's before it moved three blocks down the road to its current location three years ago.

Village officials were quick to tout the announcement that Briarcliffe College, a technical and business school, would consolidate its two local campuses by leasing and occupying about 60 percent of the current Swezey's building in the spring of 2004. Mayor Edward A. Ihne envisioned a college-town atmosphere with students boosting business at local restaurants and shops.

''It is a big void that Swezey's is leaving,'' he said. ''But with the relocation of Briarcliffe College I think it's going to be one of the best things that ever happened to our village.''

But some residents said they would have preferred another retail store to occupy the Swezey building, not a college.

''We don't have any stores here to shop,'' Mary-Lou Rooney said at the Swezey's store, where she was shopping with her sister. ''There are a lot of restaurants here, but once Swezey's is gone I will have to travel 15 minutes by car to get to the nearest store. It would have been nice to have a Target or a Kohl's come into here instead.''

Others were skeptical that the Briarcliffe announcement would really amount to much. ''Briarcliffe College is already in Patchogue,'' said Lee E. Koppelman, director of the Long Island Regional Planning Board. ''By moving it to the Swezey building, there isn't any additional pull coming into the community. And what do the students spend their money on outside of going to a small eatery? Everyone knows students don't have any money.''

Nevertheless, Mayor Ihne said he was already involved with several local property owners who expressed an interest in converting their apartment houses into dormitories run by Briarcliffe. The college does not provide any residence facilities, but Lynn Salvage, president of Briarcliffe, said student housing arrangements were being planned for the Patchogue campus, which has an enrollment of 1,000 (another 1,500 at its Bethpage campus would be unaffected). She said the college plans to increase its Patchogue enrollment by a few hundred every year.

For many years Patchogue, like other South Shore downtowns, has been struggling to revive its retail sector. Competition from large chain stores on Sunrise Highway hurt. Three years ago the chamber of commerce began taking a different tack, recruiting restaurant owners to downtown and sponsoring musical performances during the summer to draw a larger crowd.

Vincent Grucci, president of the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce, said that since then the vacancy rate for storefronts has dropped from 19 percent to under 5 percent, with 300 businesses operating within a 2.2-mile radius. However, he said, ''Retail promotes foot traffic in the community, and that is needed to boost the local economy.''

Shopping does continue to lag. ''Patchogue no longer supports retail business,'' said Joel Furman, owner of the vacant building at the village center. ''People are enjoying their cars and driving to the malls rather than coming to a place like this, where parking is next to impossible.''

Mr. Grucci said he would be actively pursuing stores like Ikea to cater to the student population.

Meanwhile, Mr. Furman said he had been marketing his property to Prime Hospitality Corporation, a hotel franchise company, to demolish his existing building and construct a five-story, 128-room hotel.

''We are only 5.2 miles away from MacArthur Airport,'' he said. ''People can stay in their hotels and go out on the town right on foot.''

The conversion of the Swezey building, a two-story brick structure built in 2000 on the site of an old lace mill, will require construction that will be partly subsidized by its owners, Swezey and Newins Inc. ''We are looking at over a million dollars' worth of construction that must be done before the college can move in,'' said the company president, William Knapp.

Mr. Knapp said his company and Briarcliffe had been in negotiations about leasing the building for the past five months. The corporation is still looking to rent the remaining 40 percent of unoccupied space.

Employees at Swezey's were surprised to learn that the company had been meeting with Briarcliffe for the past few months.

''I didn't even know that we were closing until last week,'' said Annette Geist, a night manager at Swezey's in Patchogue. ''I felt a little betrayed that we didn't know before the public knew. I have been here for 19 years, but then again I guess I am just an employee.''

Photo: Swezey's, a Long Island original, is shutting its five department stores. Above, the closeout is on in Patchogue. (Photo by Maxine Hicks/The New York Times)